Lakeview blanks Crestview
Trending
CORTLAND -- Once Lakeview gets going, the Bulldogs are a hard team to stop.
After a scoreless first inning, the Bulldogs scored once in the second. In the third, they added a pair. That continued on as Lakeview took down Crestview, 10-0, in a sectional bracket final matchup on Friday.
"Their pitcher had a pretty interesting style," Lakeview coach David Kelm said. "She was doing a really spinny ball that was coming up on them. Once they started to see it for a little bit, they started going and I think that once they get going, it's hard to start to slow them down."
Makenna Werner led the Bulldogs with a trio of hits on the evening and rounded home each time.
"She's our senior. She's been playing second base for us for three years. Been in the lineup for a long time. She's phenomenal," Kelm said. "One of the kids that I could say 'Hey, read the defense and go,' so she's going to have an impact the rest of the way this year and we're sure going to miss her at the end of this."
Kennedy Bartlett had a pair of RBIs for Lakeview.
Crestview was behind the eight-ball before the season even began.
Injuries took their toll early and often this season for the Rebels.
"We lost several key players right out of the gates," Crestview coach Melvin Miller said. "Coming into the season (we lost) who I thought would be my number one pitcher, starting catcher. Then part way through the season, there's another senior and then the only starting senior I have left tonight was at prom. We came in here with a very young team, very inexperienced, and we worked really hard too. I think we hung around at the start of that game. Really proud of the way we were able to do that, not just come in here and lay down.
"This team is very resilient, overcoming those things, moving people around, putting them in different spots and asking a lot of very young and inexperienced players."
The Rebels finish the season with a 9-14 mark.
On the bright side, every player that suited up for Crestview on Friday is set to return to the program next season.
"They don't quit," Miller said. "They've never quit on me in any game this year. They just battle right to the last pitch. Obviously this is valuable postseason experience for these girls. It hurts now, but I want them to learn from the mistakes that we made in this game, and I want them to come back next season knowing that we got two games into it. Let's try to build on that and get deeper. Every player that was here tonight comes back next year."
The Bulldogs (17-5) advance to the Division III, Northeast 2 District semifinals where they'll take on LaBrae, who is hosting. The teams met earlier in the season with Lakeview winning 19-9, but eight of those runs came in one inning. Kelm doesn't expect a repeat of the first matchup.
"We played a tough game against them. We had a really, really good sixth inning, so it makes it look like we did a little bit more than we actually did," Kelm said. I think they were beating us for about five of those six innings, so it's going to be a great game. You've got to love those ones because it's going to be competitive, and I think that brings the best out of everybody."
Have an interesting story? Contact Brian Yauger by email at byauger@tribtoday.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @_brianyauger.